Óscar Domínguez

ÓSCAR DOMÍNGUEZ (La Laguna, Tenerife, 1906 – Paris, 1957).
“Mechanical Birds,” ca. 1952.
Oil on canvas.
Signed in the lower right corner.
On the reverse, a label from Sotheby’s Parke Bernet, Paris (3, rue de Miromesnil), with the references “ANAVI,” “O. DOMINGUEZ,” and “LOT 60.”
Accompanied by a certificate of authenticity issued by Ana Vázquez de Parga, dated September 10, 2012.
The painting’s surface shows cracking.
Measurements: 46 x 61 cm; 59 x 75.5 cm (frame).

Painted around 1952, this work belongs to a particularly significant phase in Óscar Domínguez’s career, marked by the evolution of his surrealist imagery toward a language of increasing geometric abstraction, under the influence of Cubism and, especially, Pablo Picasso. The title, *Mechanical Birds*, refers to one of the recurring motifs in his work from the late 1940s and early 1950s: the transformation of birds into hybrid organisms, halfway between nature and machine. This iconography finds parallels in works such as *Pájaros aviones* (1950) and in another composition titled *Pájaros mecánicos* (1952), executed in gouache and India ink, which is currently part of the BBVA Collection.

In this composition, the avian forms break down into a network of angular outlines, triangular structures, and lines of intense red that intersect with dark silhouettes. Against a background of ochre, green, and brown tones, these elements simultaneously evoke birds, arrows, and flying machines, creating a scene of striking dynamism. The tension between the organic and the artificial—a hallmark of Domínguez’s universe—takes on a particularly evocative dimension here, in which references to flight and machinery can be interpreted through the lens of postwar Europe.

The work is part of the formal explorations the artist undertook during his so-called “schematic” period, linked to his experimentation with the triple line that began in 1948. During these years, Domínguez evolved toward compositions of greater structural rigor, in which drawing and geometry took on an increasingly prominent role without completely displacing the irrational associations characteristic of Surrealism. The fusion of birds and mechanisms constitutes, in this sense, a manifestation of his persistent interest in metamorphosis, translated into a more synthetic and constructive visual vocabulary.

Of particular documentary interest is the Sotheby’s Parke Bernet label preserved on the reverse, which links the work to the auction of the Hélène Anavi collection, held in London on March 27 and 28, 1984. It also comes with a certificate of authenticity issued by Ana Vázquez de Parga, a specialist in Domínguez’s work and curator of his retrospective exhibition presented at the Reina Sofía Museum in 1996.

A key figure in international Surrealism, Óscar Domínguez spent much of his career in Paris, where he became part of André Breton’s circle during the 1930s. Among his contributions, the development of the decalcomania technique stands out—an automatist process that had a significant impact among the Surrealists. His connection to the Canarian avant-garde was equally decisive in the organization of the 1935 Tenerife International Surrealist Exhibition. After World War II, his artistic language gradually incorporated new formal solutions, in close dialogue with Picasso’s painting, while retaining an unmistakable personality. His work is represented in institutions such as the Reina Sofía National Art Museum, the Centre Pompidou in Paris, and TEA Tenerife Espacio de las Artes.